A plea for minimally biased naturalistic philosophy

Naturalistic philosophers rely on literature search and review in a number of ways and for different purposes. Yet this article shows how processes of literature search and review are likely to be affected by widespread and systematic biases. A solution to this problem is offered here. Whilst the tradition of systematic reviews of literature from scientific disciplines has been neglected in philosophy, systematic reviews are important tools that minimize bias in literature search and review and allow for greater reproducibility and transparency. If naturalistic philosophers wish to reduce bias in their research, they should then supplement their traditional tools for literature search and review by including systematic methodologies

On Neuromechanical Approaches for the Study of Biological Grasp and Manipulation

Biological and robotic grasp and manipulation are undeniably similar at the level of mechanical task performance. However, their underlying fundamental biological vs. engineering mechanisms are, by definition, dramatically different and can even be antithetical. Even our approach to each is diametrically opposite: inductive science for the study of biological systems vs. engineering synthesis for the design and construction of robotic systems. The past 20 years have seen several conceptual advances in both fields and the quest to unify them. Chief among them is the reluctant recognition that their underlying fundamental mechanisms may actually share limited common ground, while exhibiting many fundamental differences. This recognition is particularly liberating because it allows us to resolve and move beyond multiple paradoxes and contradictions that arose from the initial reasonable assumption of a large common ground. Here, we begin by introducing the perspective of neuromechanics, which emphasizes that real-world behavior emerges from the intimate interactions among the physical structure of the system, the mechanical requirements of a task, the feasible neural control actions to produce it, and the ability of the neuromuscular system to adapt through interactions with the environment. This allows us to articulate a succinct overview of a few salient conceptual paradoxes and contradictions regarding under-determined vs. over-determined mechanics, under- vs. over-actuated control, prescribed vs. emergent function, learning vs. implementation vs. adaptation, prescriptive vs. descriptive synergies, and optimal vs. habitual performance. We conclude by presenting open questions and suggesting directions for future research. We hope this frank assessment of the state-of-the-art will encourage and guide these communities to continue to interact and make progress in these important areas

Contracting Care: Evaluating the effects of the "Second Generation Health System Strategy' on the contracting environment for community organizations in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver

Major Research Paper (Master's), Health, Faculty of Health, School of Health Policy and Management, York UniversityThis paper examines the impacts of the Downtown Eastside ‘Second Generation Health System Strategy’ (2GHSS) on the contracting environment for community organizations and programs receiving funding from the regional health authority, Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH). The 2GHSS was designed by VCH and implemented in 2015 with the aim of removing siloed services and providing a more integrated and responsive health system in the Downtown Eastside (DTES). The 2GHSS represents a significant reorientation of government priorities in the community and the accompanying funding shuffles and cuts – primarily directed at non-clinical programs and organizations – have shifted the landscape of the DTES third sector. Informed by the theoretical framework of feminist political economy, and through the use of thematic analysis, this paper identifies trends in the DTES contracting environment between 2015 and 2019 that reflect the intensification of medical dominance and indirect neoliberal governance, including: funding cuts to organizations without links to the formal health system; use of market-based competitive tendering; valuing health services for their clinical rather than their social components; and contributing to an environment of fiscal precarity. It is concluded the 2GHSS is an extension of the neoliberal ideological orientation that has long directed the priorities of the BC health sector

A Life Cycle Approach to the Development and Validation of an Ontology of the U.S. Common Rule (45 C.F.R. § 46)

Requirements for the protection of human research subjects stem from directly from federal regulation by the Department of Health and Human Services in Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) part 46. 15 other federal agencies include subpart A of part 46 verbatim in their own body of regulation. Hence 45 C.F.R. part 46 subpart A has come to be called colloquially the ‘Common Rule.’ Overall motivation for this study began as a desire to facilitate the ethical sharing of biospecimen samples from large biospecimen collections by using ontologies. Previous work demonstrated that in general the informed consent process and subsequent decision making about data and specimen release still relies heavily on paper-based informed consent forms and processes. Consequently, well-validated computable models are needed to provide an enhanced foundation for data sharing. This dissertation describes the development and validation of a Common Rule Ontology (CRO), expressed in the OWL-2 Web Ontology Language, and is intended to provide a computable semantic knowledge model for assessing and representing components of the information artifacts of required as part of regulated research under 45 C.F.R. § 46. I examine if the alignment of this ontology with the Basic Formal Ontology and other ontologies from the Open Biomedical Ontology (OBO) Foundry provide a good fit for the regulatory aspects of the Common Rule Ontology. The dissertation also examines and proposes a new method for ongoing evaluation of ontology such as CRO across the ontology development lifecycle and suggest methods to achieve high quality, validated ontologies. While the CRO is not in itself intended to be a complete solution to the data and specimen sharing problems outlined above, it is intended to produce a well-validated computationally grounded framework upon which others can build. This model can be used in future work to build decision support systems to assist Institutional Review Boards (IRBs), regulatory personnel, honest brokers, tissue bank managers, and other individuals in the decision-making process involving biorepository specimen and data sharing

Biobank Economics and the “Commercialization Problem”

The economic aspects of biobanking are intertwined with the social and scientific aspects. We describe two problems that structure the discussion about the economics of biobanking and which illustrate this intertwining. First, there is a ‘sustainability problem’ about how to maintain biobanks in the long term. Second, and representing a partial response to the first problem, there is a ‘commercialisation problem’ about how to deal with the voluntary altruistic relationship between participants and biobanks, and the potential commercial relationships that a biobank may form. Social scientists have argued that the commercialisation problem is inadequate as a way to construct the multiple tensions that biobanks must negotiate. We agree that the commercialisation problem is an inadequate framework; turning to alternative accounts of bioeconomy, we suggest that contemporary consideration of the economics of biobanking primarily in terms of participants and their bodily tissue may reproduce the very commodification of science that these scholars critique. We suggest that an alternative conception of the economics of biobanking beyond the logics of commodification, which may thereby allow broader questions about the social and economic conditions and consequences of biobanks to be posed

Dichotomies, Transcendence and Power: Investigating Women’s Narratives of Breast Cancer Risks

Worldwide, almost 630,000 women died from breast cancer last year. North American women face a lifetime risk for breast cancer of one in eight, with nearly 500 new breast cancer diagnoses each week in Canada. The overall global incidence of breast cancer continues to rise. Five to ten % of cases are related to genetics, family history, lifestyle and behaviour, all factoring into overall incidence. Fewer than 50% of breast cancers can be explained by the known or traditionally suspected risk factors. The complexity of the varied contexts, which produce disparate degrees of risk, should be incorporated into prevention strategies. Increased attention to environmental and occupational risk factors represents a significant site where primary prevention interventions could be effective. This qualitative study examines how women who work in an environment with an identified risk of breast cancer construct understandings and narratives of their risks and how women perceive and exercise agency in the acceptance, avoidance or negotiation of those risks. Personal narratives were gathered through in-depth individual interviews from 25 women who are current or former employees of the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The research draws on Kleinman\u27s ecological approach, where the subject location is key to the framework for understanding health information within its socio-cultural context. Kleinman\u27s approach is further developed in this study by incorporating feminist standpoint theory and a socio-ecological framework. The theoretical approach constructed by incorporating these multiple perspectives frames women\u27s subjective understandings as situated in their socio-cultural contexts and allows understanding subject location and, importantly, agency—or control over breast cancer risks—as seen through the subject in her location. The narratives reveal how women construct their understanding of breast cancer risks, particularly concerning environmental factors, based on personal knowledge, occupational experience, and through the lens of gender. The exploration uncovers and analyzes how women\u27s subject location influences understandings, interpretations and use of knowledge about perceived risks for breast cancer in a risk-bearing environment and their related ideas about agency directed at risk mitigation. Policy, regulation, and risk mitigation strategies are enhanced by understanding how women make meaning in their knowledge of breast cancer risks and how they perceive the possibilities and barriers to agency to mitigate risks. The way women understand breast cancer risk is dynamic, contextualized, multisectoral, and relational and offers insights into understanding spaces. As seen from women’s standpoint, breast cancer risk is not solely a biomedical phenomenon residing in the body, determined by genetics or lifestyle choices, but is experienced by women in a nested set of social, cultural and political relationships. Increased understanding and collaborative partnerships between medical science and social science would improve breast cancer prevention strategies, particularly where risks are related to involuntary, environmental exposures. The findings contribute to efforts to address environmental health risks at the Ambassador Bridge and other workplaces and communities

Democracia y conocimiento

One of the most critical moments in the education of citizenship is literacy in political matters. Regarding that idea is that we present this critical review of the book “Democracy and knowledge.” The author presents in the first section the general information of the book. Then, he continues commenting and evaluating the contributions by chapters, as well as their scientific implications. Finally, in the conclusions, it is highlighted the variety of the text and its importance for future efforts in the field of philosophy and political science.Uno de los momentos más importantes en la educación de la ciudadaní­a es la alfabetización en asuntos polí­ticos. Respecto a esa idea es que presentamos esta reseña crí­tica sobre el libro “Democracia y Conocimiento”. Los datos generales del libro son presentados en la primera sección de esta revisión. Luego, el autor continúa comentando y evaluando las contribuciones por capí­tulos, así­ como sus aportes cientí­ficos. Finalmente, se emiten las conclusiones que destacan la variedad del texto y su importancia para los esfuerzos futuros en el campo de la filosofí­a y las ciencias polí­ticas, y en un sentido más amplio en la educación de la ciudadaní­a toda

Madness, Resistance, and Representation in Contemporary British and Irish Theatre

This thesis questions how theatre can act as a site of resistance against the political structures of madness. It analyzes a variety of plays from the past 25 years of British and Irish theatre in order to discern what modes of resistance are possible, and the conceptual lines upon which they follow. It questions how these modes of resistance are imbibed in the representation of madness. It discerns what way these modes relate specifically to the theatrical, and what it is the theatrical specifically has to offer these conceptualizations. It achieves this through a close textual and performative analysis of the selected plays, interrogating these plays from various theoretical perspectives. It follows and explores different conceptualizations across both political and ethical lay lines, looking at what composes the theatrical practical critique, how theatre can alter and play with space, how theatre capacitate the act of witnessing, and the possibility of re-invigorating the ethical encounter through theatrical means. It achieves this through a critical engagement with thinkers such as Michel Foucault, Henri Lefebvre, Jacques Derrida and Emmanuel Levinas. Engaging with the heterogeneity of madness, it covers a variety of madness’s different attributes and logics, including: the constitution and institutional structures of the contemporary asylum; the cultural idioms behind hallucination; the means by which suicide is apprehended and approached; how testimony of the mad person is interpreted and encountered.AHR